September 21, 2008

The 2008 Emmys: Good wins, a tedious and embarrassing broadcast

Someone thought it would be a good idea for five – count 'em, five –
different reality-TV hosts to come out at the start of Sunday's Emmy
broadcast on ABC and talk about how they didn’t have anything to say.
Whoever thought that was a good idea should be fired.

Not that the winners weren’t deserving – the worthy “30 Rock,”
“Damages” and “Mad Men” won big, while (thank goodness) “Boston Legal”
won nothing – but much of the rest of the ceremony was embarrassing,
terrible or both.

And now Rob Lowe can finally consider his 19-year-old Snow White Oscar
duet forgotten. TV has a new train wreck to make fun of, in the form of
the 2008 Emmy broadcast that aired on Sunday.

The high point was the best drama win for the truly sensational “Mad
Men,” an AMC show that is in the midst of its second season. It was the
first time that a basic-cable show won the best-drama award.
Unfortunately that exciting moment came after three hours of tedium. (For a full list of all Emmy winners, go here and
here.

A microphone failed when Vanessa Williams tried to introduce the best
dramatic actress nominees. Producers tried to rid the stage of Glenn
Close, who won that award for “Damages.” Don Rickles was made to recite
silly awards-show blather instead of being allowed to riff as only he
can. But those were the least of this broadcast’s problems.

The five reality-show hosts who were supposed to spice up the
proceedings made the opening minutes fall completely flat (after their non-funny opening banter, they ripped off Heidi Klum’s
clothes to reveal the hot pants she was wearing underneath).

“What if I just kept talking for 12 minutes? What would happen? That
was the opening,” “Entourage’s” Jeremy Piven noted acerbically when he
picked up his best supporting comedy actor award. (For photo galleries of Emmy moments, go here and here.)

But the most jaw-dropping moment had to be crooner Josh Groban singing a medley of TV themes.

One’s brain had barely adjusted to the fact that the “Baywatch” theme
had words (who knew?), when suddenly Groban was rapping (yes, rapping)
the theme from “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.” The nadir of this
pastiche had to be when leggy showgirls arrived on stage while Groban
gave a bit of Broadway razzle-dazzle to “M*A*S*H’s” “Suicide Is
Painless.”

It was at that point that I began to wish my home resembled the offices
glimpsed on AMC’s “Mad Men,” where a bottle of scotch is never more
than arm’s length away.

Truly, it was one of the worst moments of television I’ve ever
witnessed, and keep in mind that I just watched the first episode of
NBC’s new version of “Knight Rider.”

There were a few moments of relief, however. And in fairness, most of
the winners – including upset best drama actor Bryan Cranston of
“Breaking Bad,” who beat out Jon Hamm of “Mad Men,” among other worthy
nominees – were a refreshing crop of fine performers from deserving
programs. Any show that gives "Damages," "Mad Men" and "30 Rock" multiple awards is doing something right.

Some good improvised comedy came when Ricky Gervais, co-creator of the original British version of “The Office,” mocked Steve Carell for running up to grab the Emmy that Gervais won last year as best actor in a comedy. Gervais didn’t make it to the Emmys last year, so presenters Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert decided to give it to Carell.

“Where is he? Oh, there in the front row,” Gervais said. The camera found Carell, who wore a look of injured sadness on his face.

“Have you even been to see [Gervais’ new movie] ‘Ghost Town’ yet?” he asked Carell, who remained stone-faced. “I sat through [Carell’s film] ‘Evan Almighty.’ Give me my Emmy.” He ran down to Carell’s seat, and finally got the statue from Carell, who'd hidden it under his seat.

One of the best zingers of the night came from Conan O’Brien, who presented an award but said he’d have to cut his appearance short.

“At this point, I had planned on doing a few more jokes, but Katherine Heigl told me she didn’t think my material was Emmy-worthy,” O’Brien said, referring to the dustup between Heigl and her “Grey’s Anatomy” producers after she took her name out of the Emmy running, blaming the “material” she’d been given last season.

Throughout the broadcast, which celebrated the Emmy’s 60th anniversary,
sets from classic shows such as “M*A*S*H” and “The West Wing” were
brought out on stage in an effort to recognize TV’s rich history. It
would have been nice had the television academy done that with a
ceremony that was, all in all, not quite so jaw-droppingly misguided.

Despite a few entertaining moments here and there, it was the kind of broadcast where the following thing didn’t seem out of the ordinary: Kirk Ellis won an Emmy for writing the HBO miniseries “John Adams,” and in his acceptance speech, he thanked the producers of the project “for giving me this amazing opportunity to talk about a period in our history when articulate men articulated complex thoughts in complete sentences.”

“They used words,” Ellis continued, but he was cut off in midsentence (oh, the irony) as ABC cut to a commercial break.

“The teleprompter is flashing,” Kathy Griffin said when she and Don Rickles came onstage to present an award together and Rickles went off the script.

“Oh, because it’s a hot show,” Rickles deadpanned. “Let’s read these funny lines they wrote for us,” he said, and rolled his eyes. The audience in the Nokia Theatre, thankful to have their pain recognized, roared with laughter.

To my great relief, William Shatner (I don’t hate the guy, but another “Boston Legal” win would have caused my soul to vomit) was beaten in the best supporting drama actor category. The deserving Zeljko Ivanek, who gave a great performance as a repressed lawyer in FX’s “Damages,” won a supporting-actor Emmy, and Dianne Wiest, who wisely didn’t come to the ceremony, also won a best supporting actress award for her powerful work in the HBO series “In Treatment.” (By the way, it was nice to see Glynn Turman, who won a richly deserved guest-actor award for "In Treatment," as one of the presenters Sunday night.)

One of the high points of the otherwise colorless opening hour came when Steve Martin presented a commemorative Emmy to Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers.

“Tommy Smothers is a man who has given me so much,” said Martin, a former writer for the “Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.” “Nothing I wanted. Mostly corporate gifts.”

Martin pointed out that in 1968, when the rest of the “Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” writing staff won Emmys, Smothers didn’t get a statue. He had taken his name off the list, thinking that it was too controversial and would ruin the show’s chances of winning. The television academy, “in an effort to fill time,” Martin joked, had decided to right that wrong and give Smothers his statue 40 years later.

“It’s hard for me to stay silent when I keep hearing that peace is only attainable through war. There’s nothing more scary than watching ignorance in action,” Smothers said in his acceptance speech. “I dedicate this Emmy to all people who feel compelled to speak out and not afraid to speak to power and won’t shut up and refuse to be silenced.”

A few more Emmy thoughts:

Best line of the night came from Rickles (of course), who, in the course of accepting an award for his film “Mr. Warmth,” talked about his wife being unimpressed the first time she met him. “Today she just sits in Malibu on the sand, with the jewelry, signaling ships,” Rickles cracked.

The show opened with a calvacade of stars reciting famous lines from TV. Whose idea was it to give Edward R. Murrow’s famous “Good night and good luck” line to “Heroes” starlet Hayden Panettiere? Sigh.

From “Mad Men’s” Matthew Weiner, when he won a best-writing award, “I guess I’m going to have to find something new to complain about.”

“My fellow nominees, I want to salute because I think we’re proving that complicated powerful mature women are sexy and high entertainment and can carry a show,” Glenn Close said as she picked up her best dramatic actress award for “Damages.”

From “30 Rock’s” Tina Fey when she accepted a best comedy actress award: “I want to thank my parents for somehow raising me to have confidence that is disproportionate with my looks and abilities. Well done! That is what all parents should do.”

UPDATE posted Monday: Mediaweek's Nielsen guru, Marc Berman, says the ratings for the Emmy broadcast were "lackluster," with ABC getting trounced by football on NBC.

Some of my favorite Emmy commentary came from various Twitters on Sunday night.

From the New York Times’ Brian Stelter: “Taking a brief break, because Josh Groban's singing can't be described, it has to be heard to be believed.”

From “The Daily Show’s” John Hodgman: “my dream of a [bob] fosse arrangement of suicide is painless at last comes true.”

From Zap2it.com's Daniel Fienberg: " May I just point out that 'reality TV
host' is NOT AN IMPORTANT ENOUGH CATEGORY to justify this placement
within the show. Geez." [Mo here: He's totally right about that.]

Kate Walsh of “Private Practice” looked amazing in a detailed, fitted black gown. America Ferrera of “Ugly Betty” also looked dazzling in an avant-garde cocktail-length dress with a full skirt.

Lots of other ladies went for white, including January Jones of “Mad Men.” Just one in a long string of odd fashion choices by Jones, this dress didn’t look great since it appeared that her undergarments were on the outside of her dress. It just looked weird.

Standouts in color included “Lipstick Jungle’s” Brooke Shields in a flowing hot pink number with a long train, “Sex and the City’s” Cynthia Nixon in a seafoam floor-length strapless gown and “Desperate Housewives’” Teri Hatcher in a sunny yellow strapless dress with ruffles down the front.

Eva Longoria should not wear dresses with big bows -- they make her look like a party favor.

Christina Hendricks of "Mad Men" got it smashingly right with her gorgeous teal gown and retro updo. Wowza.

Looking crisp in black and white were “House’s” Lisa Edelstein and Vanessa Williams of “Ugly Betty.”

What were they thinking? Emilie de Ravin from “Lost” wore old-ladyish blue number with clunky layers at the bottom. Alyssa Milano showed up in a white dress with a ruff; it looked like something the Wicked Witch of the West would wear to a convention for tacky witches. Jenna Fischer of “The Office” rarely messes up her awards-show appearances but her staid green number was way too old for her and not flattering to her figure.

The highlight of the night? Amazing Race winning. Again. No, I'm actually serious...that WAS the highlight of a horrible broadcast. And maybe Jeff Probst winning because he did bring Reality TV to where it is today (but he should NOT co-host a live show like the Emmys!)

30 Rock is good but seems to pale in comparison to so many of the great comedy series of the past years... And Mad Men (the show TV Critics have crowned winner but in reality almost no actual TV viewers have seen) does things well. But when you watch Mad Men, it all feels good. Never outstanding. The acting? It can't hold its own against the best performances of "Lost," "House," or even "Grey's" and the show itself fails to inspire. It's not a show like "Sopranos" "The West Wing" or "Lost" that you'd race home to see, and if you try talking about it at the water cooler your friends will shrug and rather talk about--the water they are drinking!

So it's not really the reality hosts--a horrible idea. (And even Oprah was boring! Oprah! Her opening was lacking energy and repetitive!) It was the content. 30 Rock. Fine. Mad Men. Okay--not horrible--but from a TV fan that loves hours and hours of watching TV, the results are clear: I'd rather watch two minutes of your favorite, Mo, Denny Crane (Shatner) talking to Allan Shore (Spader)--than a full episode of Mad Men. Dramas don't need to be over the top to be good. But good TV lingers after you turn off the TV and stare at the darkness and say "Wow." I've never said "Wow" for Mad Men. Most of America hasn't even SEEN Mad Men.

Emilie de Ravin looked adorable, granted the sequins (sp?) wern't doing it for me, but the vintage style was classy, and really did pop compared to the bland average dresses that were seen on the red carpet, she looked age appropriate, and I thought stunning.

It was so awful I was able to see the whole show DVR'd in 1 hour. Narrcisistic, adolescent and self congraulatory. Yes, Tommy Smothers and In Treatment's awards were a small bright spot.
Dexter and Weeds are intersting shows over looked.This crowd is as far from real folks as politicans. Nuff said!

Shame that this year's Emmy's - in the eyes of the critics was such a flop. These are not the "Big Screen" awards but TV’s. The shows are not multi-million pound 'A' class productions - but hey! They've kept Joe Public entertained throughout the decades.
I don't agree with the comment "Groban being More painful than the opening..." I thought it was very brave and entertaining that Josh Groban sang the medley of theme tunes in so many styles and it only hi-lighted the enormous range his amazing voice has. Josh isn't afraid to show his dorky side (remember he did that first in Ally McBeal as Malcolm Wyatt) as well as being able to be serious and play the part of Anatoly in Chess - what diversity for someone so young and gifted! You’ve obviously never seen or heard Josh Groban live at a concert, if you had; I believe your acid comments would have been very different.
There were hiccups, they do occur when you're not expecting them and these events don't please everyone - perhaps you're one of them! Despite everything, last nights event drew a lot of attention and provided people with light relief from the hum-drum of everyday life with the opportunity to see the stars of the small screen up close. Forgive me if I'm wrong but wasn’t that what it was all about????

Jaw dropping, mind numbing...how it about it just plain sucked! I cannot believe that this is best Hollywood could do to celebrate 60 years of television. Whatever respect I had for Josh Groban is GONE! I do have to say that my admiration for Tommy Smothers was rekindled and shouts out to Tina Fey for making brunettes with glasses totally sexy!

I am an awards show junky, couldn't wait for last night's show. I was bored to tears! The opening was painful, the scripted banter was awful and I thought the show would never end. Josh Groban must have been desperate for some exposure, it will take a long time for him to live this down. Brook Shields looked so lovely. Most of the fashions were nice, and safe. I enjoyed the political statements, especially Laura Linney's reference to John Adams and the men of those times, as "community organizers".

Mo,
I too watched last night. Your thoughts echo mine completely. How irritating that a communication (albeit entertainment) media would be so concerned with time that it would cut speeches off before they were finished. Also, the award for best "reality" show. Please, how offensive to legitmate writing and acting. How can you compare a "Damages" to "Dancing with the Stars".

What no mention of the cringe-inducing Laugh-In sketch? Ugghh.
This was a train wreck that I couldn't look away from.
Only a few shining moments which you've already mentioned. Woohoo Mad Men!
Ricky Gervais, Don Rickles, Tina Fey & 30 Rock.
I want those three hours of my life back.

This was a snoozapooluza, for sure. I have seen worse awards shows, though few as unfunny as this. It seemed like absolutely no one cared about anything. You were spot on about that painful reality bit, too. Well, at least it's a new television season just starting.

I thought the Josh Grobin bit was hilarious. You have to admit that most of the voices were dead on, and I thought it was fun. The fact that he is such a serious singer is what made it so funny. People that didn't enjoy it need to lighten up.

Maureen,
They come up with an Emmy for best reality host BUT 60 years without "Best Action Show". Action shows from the past like Mannix, It takes a Thief,A-Team,etc. should be reconized for the entertainment value they provide,also! Not everything is a Drama.

I LOVED the Josh Groban bit! Hilarious, and the definite highlight of the show. Which isn't saying much, since the rest was awful. But that part was great. The juxtaposition of his big legit voice with these silly songs was truly inspired. It was supposed to be silly and fun.

Some say that the Emmy Awards are no longer connected to most popular of programs, in terms of ratings. Perhaps the bigger shift is that basic cable networks make a greater commitment to new and niche based programs rather than the networks, which are fast to yank a low performing product, despite the quality.

I could care less who wins or loses. I personnaly have no use for the mainstream Hollywood crew. Most of these people are so out of touch with the general public they have gone on to live in a fantasy world. Their egos are so large they need all these awards shows to satisfy them. The other thing that really makes me angry is the fact they feel they need to use their famous status to further their political agenda. Who gave them the right to feel they are political experts on every issue. Yes they have opinions but to use their status for a political platform....No Way. As I said, they are so out of touch it is pathetic!

When you're working up a lather about how stupid and embarrassing and terrible someone else's stuff is (and I'm not disagreeing), that's when you really want to avoid sentences like, "But those was the least of this broadcast’s problems."
I'm just sayin'...

Hmm, I really have to doubt your opinions now if you don't believe Boston Legal is deserving of any recognition, but that could only mean you are probably a republican, as most of the jokes and stabs relate to the republicans. I do agree with you that the Emmy's were awful and I think they should just be taped during the day and run at midnight.

Ricky Gervais was hysterical and he should host next year. I love him now; he even looked handsome and sexier. Humor does that to a man. That was such an entertaining bit he did before and after the clips. Now I want to rent the whole season or two of extras and see his new movie, which my friend said was the best movie she has seen in a long time. I think it is called Ghost Town. More Ricky!

Just goes to show how far Hollywood has removed itself from reality. They can make all the political statements they want, no-one is listening, (it's just too darn painful!) Working class America can in no way what-so-ever relate to these idiots anymore.

Could actors PLEASE shut up about their political opinions on an awards show? II was not watching the show in order to know who is going to vote for who!! Plus, I don't care!!!! Tommy Smothers sounded like a naive 16 year old hippie. Laura Linney was smarily hostile. These people are revolting when it comes to their arrogance in assuming that anyone gives a ----!! You're not politicians, so SHUT UP!!!

Maureen, I wonder if you have read any of the other reviews of last night's Emmy show. You seem to be the only critic who didn't love Josh Groban's performance. If you knew anything about him you would understand it was tongue-in-cheek! His impressions were perfect. Lighten up, Maureen.

The Emmys used to be very funny and without the bloated self-importance that the Oscars serve up each year. Most of the people who did the broadcast had experience on live TV.
Why would anyone think that Reality TV hosts (a job that involves alot of recapping and almost no humor) could handle the emceeing of a major broadcast? They could have had Conan, Jimmy, Ellen, Stephen, Dave or Jay (hello? Leaving Tonight Show?). They could have had Steve Martin (who was very funny) for the whole broadcast. And we get Jeff Probst?

I loved the Josh Groban medley, hated the reality hosts. Especially bad was how they drew out announcing the winner of that category, it took up so much time, a crime when they wouldn't give the writer of John Adams the time to finish his acceptance speech. In all I didn't think it was that bad, perhaps it was my mood last night. I liked seeing Don Rickles, Tom Smothers, the exchange between Sally Field and Tom Hanks (How ya been son?), Steve Martin to name a few nice moments. I liked the concept of incorporating classic TV sets, but thought the implementation of the idea was uneven at best.

I don't much care for "Boston Legal" at all, and it has nothing to do with politics, it has to do with over-the-top, cartoonish writing. There was a time when David E. Kelley wrote about human beings, but it's been a long time now.

What wows me about "Mad Men" is the care and skill of long-term character and plot development. It's like a good, thick novel, and everything you see enhances what you'll see later. Best of all, you can't sit back and rely on simple stereotypes to understand the characters or situations. It makes you pay attention and it pays off with dividends.

As for "30 Rock," has there ever been a show with such a loopy wavelength and a ginormous streak of metafiction that's been this popular? Which is to say, popular enough to stay on the air (barely) while winning Emmys over and over (which keeps it on the air). It's not "Two and a Half Men," that's for sure.

So Emmy is honoring shows that are meticulously crafted, that are the vision of their creators, that are unlike anything else on television. Call me crazy, but I think that's a good thing.

The hosts were embarrassingly bad, obviously did not want to be together, Ryan looking smug, Tom out of place & bored, Howie off script blubbering, and the completely stupid sexist with the stripping off thing with Heidi! She allowed herself to be made a fool of. That is the short list. Degrading to themselves and the audience. Why would anyone have thought this was a good idea? And then the basics, didn't they repeat Carlin in the memoriam? Isn't that basic oversight, attention to detail? When the winners are more on top of it with jokes and commentary in their 8 seconds, it is a sad state. Thank you Kathy for telling everyone to get up and honor Don - maybe they should have stayed on their feet and walked out, so say, our work is worth more than this crap.

I was happy to see you mention Glynn Turman's win in your column. He is an underrated actor who now will maybe get some of the respect he so richly deserves. If you have a chance to see an episode of the New Twlight Zone (from the 80's) entitled "Paladin of The Lost Hour" you will again get to see Mr Turman's brilliance.

The hosts: One word, pathetic. Reality TV has been a festering sore for over 10 years now and rewarding the people behind it is just picking at the scab. (Examples: "Rock of Love," I Love New York" and "Hogan Knows Best?") Leave the award show hosting to actors and comedians who get paid to make people laugh. I think Steve Martin would have made a great host.

For a published TV Critic to note this Emmy show as " The Worst moment I've ever witnessed" calls your credibility into question.
Honestly, the worst ever?
not an episode of "Jack$$$? or "Cops"?
No hypebole, just the low water mark?
Then you are stealing money.

I agree with most of this. The political commentary was also a bit much and probably did not help our cause at all. But I thought Josh Groban was HILARIOUS! I am closer to his age and just thought he was having fun and getting a laugh at his own expense. The rapping was terrible (but funny), the South Park theme cracked me up, the opera undertones throughout made it obvious that it was all a joke, but the highlight was when the choir came out for The Jeffersons theme... let Josh Groban have his fun since Celine and his managers aged him thirty years since his debut. Seriously though, he did the South Park theme so well, it was like being back in my fraternity house.

The most disappointing thing for me was that The Closer won nothing. I think that is the best show on TV, especially this past season. As Brandon said previously, that was a show I FELT; and said 'Wow!' to the dark screen after it was over. Other thoughts:
-The fact that such tripe as Two and a Half Men was even nominated is sad.
-Multiple nominees in the same category from the same show should be disallowed.
--DVR sure did make it easier to blow past the filler.
-Steve Martin was great, as always. Tommy Smothers was great. Don Rickles looked embarrassed to be treated as if people thought he was dead, or might be any second.
-The Laugh-In bit was a big let-down. I can't believe more didn't participate. I was wondering where Goldie Hawn was, but by the time it was over, I understood her foresight.
-Alyssa Milano was wearing a "What was she thinking?" dress in a "What's she even doing here?" moment.
-I have to start watching Mad Men.
-Can't comment on Josh Groban -again, DVR.
-Bring back Joan and Melissa! If the Red Carpet hosts are going to be a joke, they might as well be in on it.

I stopped watching these self-serving, inane and pointless awards shows years ago. I am happy to hear I missed absolutely NOTHING. The political comments are a big reason I stopped watching, since they are so impossibly one-sided, and for the most part are only mentioned to make the speaker one of the "In" Hollyweird crowd.

Not that football was that great, but at least there is purpose to it.

Also, I'll concur that while I love Denny Crane, Boston Legal has become unwatchable. The plots got ridiculous (Denny for public office/Coast Guard Allan & Denny), and the nonstop political ranting and slanting. I don't care what side of the aisle you're on...the fact that every case Allan takes somehow turns into a commentary on politics (and always concludes with 7.35847656 meaningless statistical references to some social ill) makes the show more predictable than an "All in the Family" rerun, and less enlightened as well (if that's even possible).

In addition, how many more "bizarro" lawyers can Crane Poole and Schmidt continue to hire? Gone are Mark Valley, Constance Zimmer, and Rene Auberjonois, replaced by a crossdresser, a guy who hops and pops, and a modern-day madame. The only way to make the show have less credibility is to bring in Ted McGinley, or just do the whole thing as an hour long cartoon (which it pretty much is now, anyways).

I wonder if the political arguments and statistics in Allan's closing are as bizarrely fabricated as the show's characters and plotlines....

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